


Beautiful Days

by ltgmars



Category: Arashi (Band), Kanjani8 (Band)
Genre: M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-03
Updated: 2012-07-03
Packaged: 2017-11-29 12:13:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/686825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ltgmars/pseuds/ltgmars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erika plants the idea in Nino's head, and Nino has trouble shaking it out. Maybe he <i>should</i> fall in love with Ryo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beautiful Days

**Author's Note:**

> _Ryusei no Kizuna_ behind-the-scenes get-together fic, written for [](http://lilly0.livejournal.com/profile)[**lilly0**](http://lilly0.livejournal.com/) during [](http://ninoexchange.livejournal.com/profile)[**ninoexchange**](http://ninoexchange.livejournal.com/) 2012, originally posted [here](http://ninoexchange.livejournal.com/20477.html). Love and thanks to my beta, [](http://lysanderpuck.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://lysanderpuck.livejournal.com/)**lysanderpuck**!

Erika's cute, like a real little sister, so when she says one day between scenes that Nino and Ryo should get together, Nino has to resist the urge to pat her on the head and tell her how precious she is.

But even though it was just an idle comment, a thought between dainty sips of coffee, Nino's eyes stray more than they need to. He starts to follow Ryo's movements around the set, and he starts to feel Ryo's eyes on him when before they'd just been another set of eyes.

It's a little distracting, but Nino's grateful for the fact that they're acting as siblings. He's supposed to be conscious of Ryo anyway. He throws all of his watching and being watched into the category of "preparing for the role", deftly side-stepping the voice in his head that tells him he isn't a method actor.

~

Ryo walks into the dressing room as Nino's going over the next scene in the script, and he's all loose and lazy steps, a comfortable swagger that Nino's seen but never noticed before. He deflates into the seat across from Nino, nodding a greeting, before he sweeps up a water bottle and tips his head back for a drink.

Nino definitely notices things now: Ryo's lips are full around the water bottle, and his throat bobs with every gulp he takes. He catches Nino's eye then, and his lips tug to one side as he brings the water bottle back down. "Why are you watching me with those eyes, Ninomiya-kun?"

"Eh?" Nino blinks exaggeratedly and leans back in his seat. "Was I supposed to watch you with my elbow?"

Ryo chuckles and picks up his copy of the script, the conversation left unfinished. Nino returns to his own script, satisfied.

~

They have dinner that night, just the two of them. Ryo insists on taking Nino to one of his favorite places in Ginza, apparently a hot spot where the people are beautiful and the food isn't bad either. Even though Nino had made a date with his magic trick videos that night, he finds himself saddled with reasons not to refuse. He keeps his eyes on Ryo as they chatter, relaxed talk of video games and friends and idol activities and boobs, but he finds there isn't much to see. Ryo doesn't seem interested. Nino wipes his palms on his pants, happy they won't be clammy with nerves anymore, and makes a decision to give Erika a stern talking to the next day. Or maybe convince her that one of the cameramen is in love with her.

Ryo pays at the end of the night, and Nino closes that chapter of his life with the simple thought that he'd maybe consider dating Ryo if it meant he got free dinner all the time.

~

The next morning is far too early, slapping Nino in the face like an angry older sister, and he drags himself into his lowest level of consciousness as he's led into his manager's van and transported to work.

He takes his coffee black as death, and even just the first sip helps him crawl up the levels of consciousness to awareness, just enough energy for him to feel what he hadn't been able to the night before. Ryo's eyes were on him, focused and thrumming and far too sharp for that time of the day (or any time of the day). Nino turns his head, and Ryo just grins shyly and nods, a quiet "good morning" rolling out from between his lips.

Nino manages to return the sentiment even though his next sip of coffee sits him comfortably on the plane of incredulity. Where was this shyness last night? Nino's already closed that chapter. He doesn't want to have to open it back up again.

He spends the rest of the day's filming staring at Kaname Jun's chin (there's quite a bit to stare at), giggling to himself when he notices Kaname rub his chin self-consciously as Nino's manager takes him to his next job.

The first person Nino sees in the dressing room is Jun, the spoon in his yogurt clinking gently against his bulbous ring, and he looks up to smile at Nino in greeting.

"Good afternoon, Jun-kun," Nino says, his voice coming out tired and thin, and Jun's eyebrows wind together.

"Is everything okay?"

And of course Jun would notice. Nino's almost too tired to be noticed right now, but he relaxes into the seat next to Jun, knowing that if anyone's good to talk to, it's Jun. "Do you feel like giving me love advice?"

Jun's eyebrows rise like the sun, a solemn dawn, and he nods around his spoon before setting his yogurt aside and turning to Nino attentively. "Can't guarantee it'll be any good, but I'll listen if you need me to."

"So there's this guy," Nino starts.

"Nishikido," Jun says with a nod.

Nino glares as he continues. "So there's this _nameless guy_ who's acting with me in a drama... yes, as my sibling. Dammit, Jun-kun, don't smirk like that. Anyway, Shii -- ah, Erika-chan -- randomly told me yesterday that he and I would be cute together, and now I can't stop thinking about it."

Jun's smugness has mercifully mellowed into something more thoughtful by the time he replies. "Do you want to date him? Do you think he's interested? Wouldn't it be best to wait until the drama season's over?"

Can't tell, can't tell, and probably. But it's also annoying to have something like this hanging over him, teasingly uncertain. He just wants to pluck it off the tree and either eat it whole or toss it aside. Nino hums in thought.

"I'd wait and see how it feels later on. Or maybe ask the others." Jun gestures toward the other members littered across the room, and Nino imagines how each conversation goes: Sho gives him step-by-step ideas to consider, Aiba giggles at the thought of Nino dating a kouhai, Ohno achieves a new sublime state of nothingness.

Ogura walks into the dressing room, and all five members greet him in unison. Jun pokes his thumb into Nino's leg and sways his head in Ogura's direction. Nino shakes his head vigorously, eyes wide in mock alarm as he whispers, "He's just going to ask for Shii's number."

~

The second opinion Nino gets ends up being from one of the hair stylists, a conversation in careful hypotheticals because the stylist had discussed a number of his own hypothetical relationships, who echoes Jun's suggestion to "wait and see". So he does, as frustrating as it is not to have immediate results. He waits as the days and weeks pass, and he sees all the little details about Ryo that he wouldn't have noticed if he weren't looking.

Ryo is charming, really. He hums to himself sometimes, and drums along to music he's listening to. He has an unexpectedly childish side, with very specific likes and dislikes, and a tendency to whine as soon as he's uncomfortable. He's also serious and earnest, and he has twice as much work as anyone else in the company because he has two groups' worth of fans to please.

Ryo jiggles in his seat one day, still kinetic despite how tired he should be, and looks up at Nino with a playful scowl. "You've been watching me a lot," he says, giving an uncomfortable shiver.

"What?" Nino says with a laugh. "You should be flattered. This is what it feels like to prepare for a role with Ninomiya Kazunari." He sits up straighter in his seat and pretends to be taller than Ryo.

"My bad," Ryo responds with a deferential nod, playfully taking the kouhai role Nino's laid out in front of him. "It's just that I feel like I'm being hunted."

Oh, he is being hunted. "What a smartass, this one." Nino's just trying to decide if he wants to catch him.

The decision seems to make itself one day when Ryo recounts an ages-old story about Yoko, and Nino's filled with love for his former costar and his current costar, so much affection that he wants to take the entirety of Osaka to bed with him.

He starts with Yoko this time (a phone call for advice, not an invitation to bed), since the thought of teenaged Yoko getting attacked by a woman with vegetables has Nino in a good mood. Yoko makes nineteen too many awed and impressed noises at Nino's intentions, and Nino doesn't stay on the phone long enough to hear what the second step of seduction is when the first one involves covering himself from head to toe in mayonnaise. Nino ignores the needy shrilling of his phone and makes the decision not to ask for any more advice from anyone ever again.

~

Nino's final plan is his own, and it's simple and maybe his style: he just goes for it.

As soon as Ryo walks into the dressing room, Nino puts his hunting eyes on. Ryo startles for a second, taking a small step back, and then cautiously moves forward, keeping his eyes on Nino as he calmly takes the seat next to him.

Nino watches Ryo's eyes, and Ryo's definitely watching back this time. Nino feels warm and breathless suddenly, and he doesn't want to pass out before he gets anywhere, so he curls his hands into fists and leans in for the kill.

Ryo's response is immediate, comfortingly so, and his lips are gently chapped as Nino shifts to fit into them. Nino's fists drag across the couch, and then up Ryo's hips, unclenching to grasp the thin fabric at Ryo's waist. Nino breaks the kiss, leaning back just enough to rearrange his legs and face Ryo more directly and maybe breathe a little bit.

"Is this preparing for the role?" Ryo whispers with an unsteady smile, like he's trying to be witty but is mostly overwhelmed. "It might need a bit more practice."

Nino gives him a blank look before huffing into a grin and another kiss. This kid thinks he's clever.

The shriek they hear some minutes later sounds like it belongs in a drama, but not their drama because it's much more gleeful than it is horrified. Erika has her hands up in front of her mouth, barely revealing her merry cheeks, and Ryo moodily hurls himself into the back of the couch, a child's tantrum for an adult's problem.

Nino looks up at Erika levelly, his lips twitching into a smirk. "You're definitely not allowed on set the next time we rehearse that."


End file.
